Meet BSA's 2025 Scholarship Awardees
November 21, 2025
Twenty students who started college this fall are doing so with scholarships from Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA).
BSA, which manages the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory for DOE through a partnership between Battelle and Stony Brook University, has awarded scholarships annually to children of employees and retirees at the Lab — a longstanding tradition that began at Brookhaven in 1965.
BSA scholars are recent high school graduates who each receive $2,500 per year for up to four years of study at the college or university of their choice. BSA scholars who are admitted and enroll as full-time students at Stony Brook University receive a matching scholarship from the University.
International Scholarship and Tuition Services (ISTS) administers the BSA Scholarships. Winners are selected by an independent scholarship committee that reports to ISTS. Criteria include academic achievements and records, school and community involvement, volunteerism, and essay content.
This year's awardees are:
1. Marc Ake
Parent: Arantxa Cuadra, Nuclear Science & Technology Department
High school: Longwood High School
College: Stony Brook University
Intended major: computer science
2. Alexandra Bazilevskaya
Parent: Alexander Bazilevsky, Physics Department
High school: Longwood High School
College: New York University
Intended major: international relations
3. Akarsh Chilakala
Parent: Srikantha Chilakala, Safety & Health Services Division
High school: Commack High School
College: University of California San Diego
Intended major: business economics
4. Justin Feder
Parent: Russell Feder, Collider-Accelerator Department
High school: Princeton International School of Math and Science
College: Rice University
Intended major: chemical engineering
5. Colin Fitzgerald
Parent: Shawn Fitzgerald, Collider-Accelerator Department
High school: Mattituck Jr./Sr. High School
College: Columbia University
Intended major: economics
6. Eden Hu
Parent: Yong Hu, National Synchrotron Light Source II
High school: Shoreham-Wading River High School
College: Yale University
Intended major: biology and music
7. Sadie Kennedy Jaffe
Parent: David Jaffe, Physics Department
High school: Riverhead High School
College: Pennsylvania State University
Intended major: speech pathology
8. Maria Kondrasheva
Parent: Sergey Kondrashev, Collider-Accelerator Department
High school: Neuqua Valley High School
College: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Intended major: biochemistry
9. Jenna Mehlinger
Parent: Janine Mehlinger, Business Services Directorate
High school: Smithtown High School East
College: Marist University
Intended major: education
10. Pamela Moran
Parent: Sandra Moran, Procurement & Property Management Division
High school: Kings Park High School
College: Stony Brook University
Intended major: health science
11. Valeria Nazaretski
Parent: Evgeny Nazaretski, National Synchrotron Light Source II
High school: Westhampton Beach High School
College: Cornell University
Intended major: psychology, pre-law track
12. Daniel Nemesure
Parent: Seth Nemesure, Electron-Ion Collider
High school: Ward Melville High School
College: Pennsylvania State University
Intended major: biomedical engineering
13. Alice Snyder
Parent: Scott Snyder, Physics Department
High school: Earl L. Vandermeulen High School
College: University of Michigan
Intended major: neuroscience
14. Emily Snyder
Parent: Scott Snyder, Physics Department
High school: Earl L. Vandermuelen High School
College: California Institute of Technology
Intended major: physics, electrical engineering
15. Jonathan Stone
Parent: George Stone, Information Technology Division
High school: West Islip High School
College: University at Buffalo
Intended major: pharmaceutical sciences
16. Justina Vaccaro
Parent: Jurgita Vaccaro, Guest Services Division
High school: Mount Sinai Hight School
College: Stony Brook University
Intended major: linguistics
17. Ava Valenzano
Parent: Anthony Valenzano, Internal Audit Office
High school: Smithtown High School East
College: Binghamton University
Intended major: biology
18. Makayla Vignieri
Parent: John Vignieri, Information Technology Division
High school: Westhampton Beach High School
College: University of Florida
Intended major: biology
19. Oliver Wu
Parent: Qin Wu, Center for Functional Nanomaterials
High school: Ward Melville High School
College: Princeton University
Intended major: public policy
20. Judy Zhao
Parent: Xin Zhao, Physics
High school: Ward Melville High School
College: Stony Brook University
Intended major: biology
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.
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2025-22718 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
